Savings potential of Miele washing machines with 'PowerWash 2.0' technology as compared to equivalent appliances of competitors using the traditional technology

For several years (2016), the emergence of a trend towards an increasing loading capacity in washing machines was seen. At the same time, there was a steady decline in the average size of households. Another trend was the increasing differentiation in the program design of washing machines towards more specific programs, and the correspondent supply of appropriate special washing agents on the market. Against the background of these developments, private consumers had increasingly difficulties to always use the appliance only at full load or the load recommended, although this remained a reasonable and effective way of reducing electricity and water consumption for doing laundry. Against this background, Miele had developed the PowerWash 2.0 technology, the use of which, in particular at reduced load, enabled a very good adaptation of the energy consumption values to be achieved. Since the benefits of this technology (low consumption figures in most programmes together with good washing performance and short programme duration) were not adequately reflected by the energy label, the objective of the present study was to quantify the savings potential of the new technology in terms of power consumption compared to devices from competitors using a conventional technology. In addition, water consumption, washing performance, and programme duration were to be compared.